Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Mad Men & Women

Patricia Goodwin is the author of When Two Women Die, a novella about two women who died and became legends in the historic seacoast town of Marblehead, MA, available now on Amazon. She is also the author of Atlantis, political poems about the United States being another Atlantis.

Someone recently asked me, in a snide way, what my generation had contributed to society.
Ok, in the course of conversation, I had just made fun of “The Hunger Games” fans’ enthusiasm for their heroes, as though their generation was going to solve everything by running a fictitious race.

“I’m glad your generation never thought they’d solved everything.”

Wait, I think my generation contributed a few positive things to society.

Just to make it interesting, let’s eliminate Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Wozniak, all of them hippies, children of the revolution.

Another gripe from the above conversation – “Mad Men” Premiere Parties - why would any woman want to dress up in the style of the 1950’s-60’s in 2012 and go to a cocktail party to drink sugared alcohol drinks and eat fake food?

Let’s take the clothing first.

I was there. If anything denoted the oppression of women it was the clothing and other apparatus women had to wear. This is not just a fashion statement. Any woman or girl who has spent a day (at work or school) and an evening in a girdle, stockings, high heels, bra, tight dress, (and if she had her period, belt and pad) can tell you it was no party. Girdles weren’t about holding up your stockings. Girdles were about keeping your flesh from jiggling. Now add the white gloves and foolish hat. White gloves get dirty almost instantly, even if you’re a debutante who doesn’t have to open her own doors. And, why, please tell me why would any self-respecting woman walk around with one of those stupid hats on her head? Ok, I know why. Because society made them. If a woman didn't wear a hat, or couldn't afford a hat, she was - you guessed it - a slut. If her hat was cheap, the church women were lined up and ready to call her cheap.

I thought we’d left all that behind and good riddance! But, no, women who never had to wear a girdle – I mean HAD to wear a girdle – are playing dress up and getting all nostalgic about the days when women had to wear dresses, hats and gloves.

Again, I was there. I was a twelve year-old girl in a girdle. I know you’re getting that feeling in your gut right now, that “What? How absurd!” feeling. Oh, yeah. Twelve. My white gloves got dirty on my way to church. Sometimes, my slip showed. And, of course, since I was twelve, my stockings got runs when I climbed on the bridge and balanced on the pipes like a tightrope walker.
You don’t have to be a kid to get runs, though. Once, when I was sixteen, on our way out for a date, my boyfriend’s cigarette ash burned a hole in my brand new stockings as he reached for the ashtray. “Oops, sorry.” He said. Oh, no problem! Instead of the elegant outfit I put together at great trouble and expense, I’ll just look like a slut all night.
None of this nonsense matters you might say – and you’d be correct. None of this nonsense matters now. However, at the time, the church ladies were all lined up ready to announce what a slut I was to the congregation, the neighborhood and to my mother after they got home – not for public lewdness – no, for having a run in my stocking, for somehow “allowing” my slip to show, and for dipping my virginal white gloved fingertips obviously into some sort of filth.

Any woman in the past who was reprimanded by her boss for coming to work with a run in her stocking can tell you it felt pretty bad. From that moment on, she either accepted her sluttery and the fact that she would never be promoted, or she carried an extra pair of stockings in her purse. (By the way, I absolutely loved the punks with their purposeful runs! Finally, someone got it!)

You will never see Peggy Olson, copywriter extraordinaire of the TV show “Mad Men” going to work wearing moccasins, bare legs and no bra. (I did - needless to say, I never made it in the insurance business where I had a summer job before college.) I challenge Matthew Weiner to let her. Peggy will always dress as close to Don Draper’s attire as possible. She is after his job.

My generation got rid of the dress code. Why would any woman want to go back to it – even for one party - unless she is indeed mad? When I saw the thick make-up and retro clothes of artists like the B-52s, Katie Perry and Adele, I really did not understand why any woman would go back to it. It is fun to play dress up. But, I’m with Meryl Streep when she cried, “I can’t wait to get out of these Jimmy Choos!” Wait no more, my sister.

You may not realize it, but cancer used to be rare. Before World War II, very few people died of cancer. It was still possible to get off balance and create a cancer before fake foods, but now, with most of our food being artificial, most people expect to get cancer and, in fact, with no real food in the mainstream diet, cancer and other degenerative diseases are almost impossible to avoid.

On that note, why would anyone think it’s fun to create and admire artificial foods at a Mad Men premiere party such as a display of Cheez Whiz on celery with olive slices, and plastic dip on trans fat chips – let alone actually eat these au d'oeuvres of death? And wash them down with a sugary highball?

How about the small matter of contraception? I was lucky enough to go to a clinic where I was allowed to pretend I was married in order to get the pill. My daughter does not have to pretend. She can get a good exam from a reputable doctor of her choice and again, choose her method of contraception. No, we haven’t completely solved the problem of contraception. Every couple must work that out for themselves, but at least we made it possible to choose. That fight is not over, as Republicans are trying even now to take these hard won rights away from us (does the word “slut” come to mind?). And, too many women right here in the United States are still faced with Peggy Olson’s agonizing decision to give up her baby.

Before I wind this up, let’s take a moment to remember our friend, Sal from “Mad Men”, the gay fellow who was fired for not sleeping with the client who came on to him. I recall a few gay pride parades where men and women practically danced naked in the streets to gain their freedom. My great aunt was butch/fem in the 40’s-70’s. She walked down the street with her short hair slicked back and her girl friend in high heels and a dress (for once, a political statement). Our family was the only one that would receive them, and I loved them. They were a blast! They had balls. Let's not forget who fought so hard for gays – the wild ones, the hippies, the trannies, the self-professed freaks - at a time when many gays couldn't even get hired, let alone adopt children or live openly as a couple. True, we are still struggling with issues like gay marriage and battling back the conservatives who want to take all our gains away. The fight continues, but much was won during the 60's revolution.

I also have to take a moment to comment on the “real Peggy Olson” Jane Maas, who wrote the book about Madison Avenue, “Mad Women.” I browsed her book and caught the phrase about what fun it was to have first class clients like Monsanto. Monsanto has been poisoning us for decades, first with saccharin, aspartame, Agent Orange, then Round-Up, BST, PCBs, DDT, and now GMOs. Somebody drank the Kool Aid.

My generation gave us – to name a few - women’s rights, gay rights, natural food. Until 9/11, we had almost stopped war. I’m sure there’s more.

This blog post isn’t about a TV show or a movie or a book. It’s about a revolution we fought, a few battles we won, and some mad men and women who want to play pretend we didn’t.

2 comments:

The names you come up with... 3 guys who invented some computer stuff... great!But looking at other generations I can think of many more interesting people who achieved much more important things.Come to think of it, exactly what is so great about Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Wozniak?If you are not a mobile phone user and don't care about ipads and apps... how amazing are these guys?Because if those are the only 3 men that you can show for your generation, that generation doesn't stand up very well compared to pretty much any other generation that came before it.

Eliminated the dress code?Kill style as I'd like to call it.I wear full 1930s clothes every single day and have been doing so for years.It looks and feels great, not uncomfortable at all.I always wear a hat, it is very comfortable, it is a crowning glory to my look but it is also very liberating.Why?Because when I get up in the morning I don't spend ages washing my hair and putting all sorts of products in it till it looks good, I roll it up and cover the rest with my hat.I can be out the door within minutes.Unlike my "modern and liberated" friends.Also remember that back then EVERYONE wore a hat, men as well.It was fashion and it looked fantastic.Not wearing one or walking around with a ladder did not make you a slut.At least not where I'm from.As for oppression, have you studied the pressure men were under in the pre 1960s?Have you tried male clothes from any decade before that, do you know men who wear these today?I do.I know men who wear 1930s clothes every day, 3 piece suits, sock garter belts, hat, tie, very high trousers, suspenders, etc.I am not saying women weren't oppressed, but to just use clothing to make that point is a bit silly when discussing an era when men also had quite a few fashion rules to follow.When I look around me at women AND men and see how shabby and boring everyone looks, it is clear that progress has made a wrong turn here.

Your generation did not give us women's rights, the fight for women's rights has been going on for many centuries and although perhaps you fought one of the last battles, you also fought some of the easiest.Think of the suffragettes, did you burn a bra?Try burning a corset.Try rioting, getting locked up in jail with food being forced down your throat.

As for gay rights, ever heard about Berlin in the 1920s?There was a gay bar in Amsterdam, the owner was a woman who dressed like a man, rode around on a motorbike and picked up girls in public.That was in the 1930s.

Natural food... well isn't that great.I wonder what our ancestors were eating decades ago...Ever tried some 1930s recipes?Or 15th century ones?Either way, imagine eating something that is not healthy but just tastes nice and is FUN... shocking isn't it?Yes we can drink, eat sweets, enjoy unhealthy food and even... smoke!!Horrors of horrors!!Or maybe it is just having a bit of fun and enjoying yourself.

Your generation stopped war?How exactly?Were you the ones on the Normandy beaches fighting the Nazis?Or did you just protest every time there was a war?While gladly using oil and ignoring the things happening in the middle east till it all blew up in our face?How did you almost stop war?For as long as I've been alive there has been war.

About Me

Welcome to Far: Ahead of Its Time, So ancient, it's new! If you are at the blog, you know more about me than anyone can because Far is me from the inside out. Click on older posts if you dare. To learn more and see other work, including videos of readings and poems, please visit my site at http://www.patriciagoodwin.com. Love is everywhere.
Patricia